Neck Pain Relief in Norwich

Neck pain is very common and most people will suffer several episodes of neck pain during their lives. It can be very painful, debilitating and persistent. Neck pain may start following a traumatic incident such as a road traffic accident or it may start gradually, perhaps as a result of poor posture or an uncomfortable work position. Commonly patients tell us that the pain came on for no known reason, “I woke up with pain,” they will say or, “I sneezed and my neck ‘went’, perhaps it is a trapped nerve?” they will suggest.

Your neck, also called your cervical spine, starts at the base of the skull and contains seven vertebrae. Incredibly the cervical spine supports the full weight of your head which averages about 10 -12 pounds. While your cervical spine can move your head in nearly every direction, it is this very flexibility which makes your neck susceptible to pain and injury and a significant restriction in movement is a sign of spinal injury or gradual spinal decay and needs attention.

Causes of Neck Pain May Include:

• Injury: When the head and neck are forced suddenly backward and immediately forward with a great deal of force this is referred to as whiplash. The sudden movement can injure the soft tissues along and near the cervical spine and can also cause damage to the ligaments and muscles. This type of injury commonly occurs in a car accident.
• Poor Posture: Whether it’s at work or home, poor posture can lead to neck problems. If a person’s head is often tilted forward for long periods of time, then the neck’s muscles, tendons, and ligaments need to work harder. Poor posture can be problematic during any number of activities including working at a computer, watching TV, riding the train, reading a book, gardening and more. ‘Text neck‘ for example is an increasingly common problem that develops in anyone who spends hours looking down at their phone while texting.
• Trivial Episodes: This type of injury occurs when you are undertaking normal daily activities which can be as simple as getting out of bed, reaching for a cup of tea, turning your head to talk to someone on the bus behind you. They are characterised by being just part of the normal simple things that you do every day, the things you cannot avoid and would never guess would cause a problem. They let us know that the neck, whilst being pain-free, is not functioning well and needs attention. Problems that have built slowly over a period of time become obvious during times of stress, tiredness, dehydration and sometimes just busyness. These types of injury can be very serious and result in significant tissue damage to joints, muscles, discs, and nerve tissue.
• Getting Older: Many people experience wear and tear on the cervical spine over time. It’s common for the discs to gradually lose hydration and the ability to cushion the spine’s vertebrae. This is more common for those who undertake repeated neck movements throughout their lives such as computer work, looking down such as food preparation or for those who do not undertake much movement in their neck and shoulders. However, if a disc degenerates enough it can lead to painful irritation of a cervical nerve in various ways, such as a herniated disc, pinched nerve or changes in the facet joints that can cause arthritis. Even chronic tightness of the delicate muscle of the neck can result in neck pain and stiffness sometimes with nerve referral into other places such as the arm pain or even into the head as a type of neck-related headache.
• Other signs of changes to the spine to look out for include being unable to touch your toes or mid-shin when forward bending, having difficulty in getting up off the ground and being unable to perform one sit-up or press-up. Different leg lengths or changes in the level of the pelvis, shoulders or head and an inability to reach both arms above the head are also important indicators that all is not well.[/notebox]

How Adjustments Help

Neck Pain Relief Norwich, Norfolk | 01603 764777